Demolition has started on storage tanks at the site of a January
chemical spill in Charleston that contaminated
public drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians .
The Department of Environmental
Protection says the demolition at the former Freedom Industries site on the Elk River should take two to four weeks unless there are
major weather delays.
The DEP says a contractor started the
process of cutting 10 steel tanks Tuesday afternoon.
Four other tanks will be
left on site to store storm water runoff that comes into contact with
potentially contaminated soil.
The company had delayed the teardown
multiple times. One of the delays involved asbestos issues in tank gaskets and
elsewhere.
The Jan. 9 spill of a coal-cleaning
agent prompted water-use restrictions for West Virginia American Water
customers in nine counties.
